The beginning of the story
by Alan Bates
Summary: A single day in the childhood of Rufus, Sephiroth, and Aeris


Disclaimer: Why do I have to keep telling you people that I don't own this stuff? Don't you get it yet?   
Aeris awoke and glanced around at the room she had lived in for the last few months. It was so much better than her previous cell had been. There were nice lights, a larger bed and it didn't have the dank chilly feel of her previous quarters. What was best was that Hojo didn't come to see her any. Hojo had left her alone since separating from her mother, working on who knew what kind of project. But the best thing about the new room was the window. She had spent many hours staring between the bars at things she had never seen before in her young life. The sky, the sun, the moon, stars, flowers and the best part of all, children her own age.   
  
That was her favorite part of the day. When a young boy about her age would come within view of the window to play. He always came alone. Although he never looked up and into the dark mansion to see her, she felt that they were friends. If nothing else, he seemed as lonely as she was.   
  
"It's okay, Bill." She whispered out the window. "I'll be your friend. I like you." She called him Bill for lack of anything better to call him. She had never heard his name, his voice, or met him, but with her mother being locked away, he was the only friend she had in the world. She felt sad for him being alone, but at the same time she felt happy that there was someone for her. Even if it was all in her imagination it was important to her.  
"Okay lil' Sephy, You need to be on your best behavior today. Your father has a rather prestigious guest coming over today and you know how he gets." Te lab assistant Milane said as he tied the young child's long hair back into a pony tail.   
  
"Yeah I get it." Sephiroth said picking at the scabs that had formed over his latest surgical incisions. "Trust me, you don't have to tell me what my father is capable of." Sephiroth got up and went over to his dresser drawers. From them, he pulled a large sheathed hunting knife and attacked it to his belt. Then just in case, he untucked his black t-shirt and pulled it down to cover the blade from his father. He didn't care that Milane had seen him. The man was just another in a long line or replaceable assistants. Sephiroth had already seen many of them transferred out the second that they did something wrong. If they were lucky.   
  
"Sephiroth." His father's voice called out. Hojo was the only person who had ever called him by his full name. It irritated him that his father couldn't adjust to what everybody else did. Hojo would always explain that he was given an impressive name because of his destiny. He would never say more than that other than that young Sephiroth would be an important person one day. "Come out now. It's time to meet the President." Sephiroth walked out the door only to see his father's stern disapproval. He was used to it. "Why haven't you dressed nice?" It wasn't a question that Sephiroth could answer correctly so he didn't say anything. "Never mind then. We'll worry about that later. And you, Mitane Fythe..." the assistant didn't bother correcting him about the name. No one ever corrected Hojo. "I'll let this slide this time. I've already head more mistakes than I care for out of you. I want no more. Especially not today of all days. You're already walking on very thin ice with me." He had quite frequently pointed out that he thought his assistant was much to soft and emotional a person. If anything it was amazing that he didn't point it out this time.  
  
"Yes Mr. Hojo" the assistant said without any sign of emotion.  
  
"Professor Hojo" he was corrected.   
  
"Yes sir." Even Hojo wouldn't object to being called sir.  
  
An alarm sound and flash lights alerted the trio to an arrival at the front door… Hojo started to walk out to greet the man. The other two knew their places. Sephiroth was supposed to follow and be the obedient son. For Milane it was time to feed the young Cetra her breakfast and afterward, stay out of sight until called.  
  
Upon reaching the front door, Sephiroth saw an imposingly large elder man and a boy only a few years younger than he was. The boy was wearing a white suit jacket; Sephiroth couldn't remember exactly what they were called, and knee length shorts. His entire outfit was chalk white trimmed with ash gray. Not the kind of thing that Sephiroth could see himself ever wearing. If he had time to think about it, he wouldn't have thought any kid would wear something like that. The lack of any kind of stains, grass or otherwise said that either it was a new suit, or the boy wasn't very active.   
  
"Greetings Mr. President." Hojo said. "Ah I see you have a little companion with you." Hojo leaned over to examine the boy's features. The young child cowered away from him. No one ever said anything nor could you tell from his expression, but everyone who knew Hojo knew he got a kick out of the fear of others. After taking a few seconds to bask in it, his attention refocused on the President… As he rose up, he grimaced at the thick smoke coming from the president's cigar. He expected the President to react slightly fearfully at his expression as most people did, but President Shinra stood firm. "Mr. President, I hate to say this but this is a highly controlled environment. No smoking please." Hojo handed him a small metal case that he expected the man to use to extinguish his cigar. Instead the man snuffed it out on his own palm and threw it out the still open door.  
  
"ahem…well, yes." Hojo said for lack of any better response.  
  
"This is my son Rufus." The larger man said patting his boy on the head. "His mother died last month and it's been quite an inconvenience for me. Having to drag him around with me when ever I go anywhere." Rufus smiled a rehearsed smile. "And this would be?"  
  
Sephiroth stepped forward and held out his hand for the older man to shake. "My name is Sephiroth." He left out the line that normally followed this whenever he introduced himself the 'call me Seph' line because he knew his father would disapprove.   
  
"Do you know who I am, son?" President Shinra asked.  
  
"You're Horracious Caleb Shinra. President of the Multi-trillion gil organization, Shinra Electrical Company." Hojo seemed slightly amused by the frank answer his son gave. "And I am most certainly not your son."   
  
President Shinra ruffled the young Sephiroth's hair. "He's most certainly YOUR son, Hojo. Ruthless and straight to the point without any regards for anyone else."  
  
"I'll consider that a compliment, sir." Sephiroth said and the two men only smiled again. The whole time Rufus was looking at him with admiration.  
  
"Listen, why don't you two go off and ....do something. I'm sure Hojo's son can keep you busy while we conduct business." President Shinra said to his son. Hojo looked down and gave Sephiroth an approving look and the two young boys took off leaving their fathers to conduct whatever business they had.  
Milane braced himself for the worst part of the day. He couldn't understand how anyone who lived as sad and depressing a life as the young Ancient could maintain such a happy facade. He had asked her once what she had to be so happy about. She had said to him that the reason she was so happy was that with all the screaming she had heard in the night, it was never hear or her mother that had made the sounds. That answered hadn't comforted him in the slightest. He inserted the keycard to her door and walked inside. She was looking at the window again and even though he had a good idea what it was she was looking at, he asked anyway.  
  
"I'm watching my friend Bill." She smiled at him. It was like a dagger threw his heart every time she talked about her 'friend'. It hurt him that a boy she only saw a few hours out of the day and had never actually met was the only person she could call a friend. He wished he could tell her more about the boy from his town. A boy that he knew so well, if nothing else, he wanted to at least tell her the boy's real name. But Hojo had been extremely strict about the flow of information to the half breed Cetra. He was amazed that the Professor had even allowed her a window to look out of. Milane merely smiled at the young girl and offered her food. It was the normal routine. He was as nice to her as allowed, asking her about what she was thinking, dreaming, or watching without telling her about himself or the outside world in anyway. His visit was cut short by Hojo's intercom sent command telling him to report to the high security cells. In his haste he left the door to Aeris's cell shut, but not locked.  
"This is the exercise chambers father has set up for me." Sephiroth finished giving his tour to Rufus. Rufus yawned as he peered into the room at the various treadmills and weight machines.  
  
"So far this has only been one room after another of dusty musky old stuff. Don't you have any games or anything? Cut the walking around and showing me things out, do you want to play a game or something?" Rufus might as well have been speaking a separate language for all that Sephiroth understood his meaning.  
  
"My father doesn't let me play games. He says that I'm above that." Sephiroth said with his most arrogant voice.  
  
"Then what do you do for fun?"  
  
"Exercise, train, and study. Sometimes me father lets me see the specimens he keeps."  
  
"We could do that" Rufus was quite interested in the specimens. He wasn't quite sure what the word meant but it sounded neat sceincey things. "Let's go see the speck-imens." Sephiroth almost laughed at the request.  
  
"Nobody enters the chambers without authoriz-ashon. Not me and especially not you."  
  
"But I'm Rufus Shinra! The President's son!"   
  
"President Shinra couldn't get in their without the right codes and cards and stuff. And you obviously aren't that important." Rufus started pouting but before he could say anything, Sephiroth had an idea. "Wait. I know a specimen that Isn't being kept in the jail. Upstairs."   
  
The two boys ran up the stair ways to the top of the building. Along the way they nearly plowed down Milane who apologized profusely, despite the fact that it wasn't his fault. Better safe than sorry. When they reached the top floor they started looking around, not quite sure what they were looking for.  
  
"I've heard that there is a Cetra up here somewhere" Sephiroth said as he randomly opened a door and peered inside. "Not here"  
  
Rufus opened a different door and looking inside. "What's a Cetra? Never heard of them before."  
  
"Not sure," Sephiroth said. "My father wouldn't let me see them, but he says that they're only ....I think he said three, left in the whole world."  
  
"Sounds scary." Rufus cringed as he opened the next door half expecting some hideous monster to jump out at him.   
  
"Nothing I can't handle." Sephiroth took the 'sounding scary' comment as a reminder of his knife. He pulled it out and gripped it tightly. It was almost too big for his hand.   
  
"Neat. Where did you get that?" Rufus asked with an innocent envy.  
  
"My father. Probably the only thing he ever gave me besides surgeries and injects. I'm learning how to fight with it." He made some slashing moments in the air. "One day, when I get older I plan on getting a really big sword."  
  
"That's sounds neat. My daddy won't let me have anything like that. But he does give me almost anything else I want. Can I see it?"  
  
"Sure" Sephiroth handed it over to his younger friend. Rufus took it in his hand and slashed through the air a few times, trying his hardest to mimic the older boy. On the fourth slash, the blade flew from his hands and slid down the hallway. "Well that was pathetic" Seph laughed.  
  
"Guess it was." Rufus ran his hands through his hair and laughed as well. Even though he didn't have the slightest clue what the word pathetic meant. "Let me go get it." Rufus took off running down the hallway towards the blade then he stopped.  
  
"What's going on. Bring me back my knife." Seph commanded. Rufus didn't say anything but waved the boy towards him point to a closed door. When Sephiroth reached Rufus, the boy in white whispered to him. "I heard something inside here."  
  
"Is it the Cetra?" Sephiroth whispered back.  
  
"How am I supposed to know? Get your knife." Sephiroth retrieved his weapon and gripped it tightly as he pushed the door open. Inside, standing on her(?) bed and looking out the window was a small figure wearing what was either a plain dress or a cloak, with it's back turned toward them. Long brown hair in a style surprisingly similar to sephiroth's tumbled down it's back.  
  
"Are you the...Cetra?" Seph asked. Aeris turned around and a bright look of joy came across her face. Boys her own age. She hadn't ever met anyone her own age before and wasn't sure how to greet the boy in the black outfit or the other boy in the white outfit.   
  
The two boys were quite surprised by what they found in the room. By all appearances, it seemed to be a little girl. While Rufus was completely confused by what she might have been doing here, Seph had some ideas but didn't want to think at all abut what they might be, knowing his father. Neither of them wanted to speak at first, because neither of them was quite sure what they were supposed to do.  
  
"Are you here to be my friends?" The young girls addressed them finally.   
  
Sephiroth stepped forward. "Ummm...yeah...maybe. I'm Seph."  
  
"Rufus," the other said.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Seph asked her.   
  
She glanced out the window and whispered to Bill, telling him that she'd be back later, before returning to her new friends. "They moved me here when they starting working on my mommy more." Rufus wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. Sephiroth wanted to know more.  
  
"I mean, what are you doing HERE in this building to begin with?"  
  
"Am I not supposed to be here?" It was Aeris's turn to be confused now. "I've always been inside here somewhere. Long as I can remember."  
  
"Whoa. Hold on now. You mean to tell me that you've never been outside before?" Rufus cut in. He was finally starting to understand.  
  
"That's right. I've always been in this place. But it hasn't been bad lately. Hojo hasn't came to do anything to me lately, and I have..." she started to say 'I have Bill' but it didn't sound right telling them this, so she only said "I have my window too. I just wish my mommy were here with me to enjoy the view. I'm sure she'd like to enjoy seeing what outside is. She used to talk to me about it sometimes."  
  
"That's just mean." Rufus said. He had thought Hojo was creepy when he first met the man, now he really hated him. How could he have kept a little girl his own age locked up like this to experiment on. "Do you want to get out of here?"  
  
"Yes please. I'd like that very much." Aeris for the first time in her young life, felt hope. She might be able to leave this lace for good, then she could be outside with the plants, under the sky, in the rain, and maybe she could even meet her friend.   
  
Sephiroth stepped between them. "Hold on. This isn't a good idea. Do you have the slightest clue what my father..." he turned back to Aeris. "Hojo is my father" and them the resumed, "what my father would do if he caught the three of us."  
  
"I never had a daddy. But if we are going to leave I'd really like to get my mommy out of here too." Aeris looked at them hopefully.   
  
"She's here too" Rufus drew out every word he said. The idea that a little girl was kept here was bad enough. Hojo keeping both her and her mom completely disgusted him. He tried not to think about what might have happened to her dad. Something told him deep down that whatever had happened, he wasn't coming back.   
  
"Well.........okay....as long as we aren't caught." Seph said looking at the young girls' smiling face. He knew how cruel his father could be. He certainly didn't want anyone to have to pout up with what he did to them if he could help it. Plus there was just something about the little girl's face he couldn't say no to. She seemed to small and so in need of somebody to protect her. For the first time in his life, Seph felt all the exercise and training might actually be put to a good use. Nobody moved. "Well?" Seph said impatiently.  
  
"You know the place the best." Rufus reminded him.  
  
"Oh yeah. Guess I do." Seph said as he took the lead followed by the weak son of the President and a girl who had never even known what life really was.  
"The physiology of the Cetra is remarkably different from humans, despite how similar they appear. Granted all of my studies have been on the female of the species, as no male members still exist. ...Ahem. As I was saying. Many differences. For instance, and this is just to list a few things, you will find no hair follicles anywhere on the Cetra other than the obvious eyelash/eyebrow/scalp. And while all species emit a certain form of pheromones, those of the Cetra are remarkably potent. Leading on to the reproductive system which is most fascinating..." Hojo continued to lecture the President.  
  
"Got them" Milane said walking down the stair way and waving several documents in the air.   
  
"Finally" President Shinra stood, walked over to the man, and snatched the paperwork out of his hands. He happy to be rid of Hojo's lecture for the most part he didn't understand what the man was talking about, for another he just didn't care. So what if they had some animal that was the last of it's kind and looked like a person. How was that supposed to make him any money? A zoo? Some elite prostitution? Some people might pay money for a one of a kind species. Still, those ideas were petty at best. He only went along with things like this to allow Hojo his own branches to study. They kept his mind working and fresh. Now the documents he held in his hands, THOSE he cared about. The contained possible upgrades to the SOLDIER program using long term emersion in the mako tanks.   
  
"I'll let you review the reports and theories for a moment then." Hojo said as The President sat back down in his seat and immediately flipped to the price estimation sheets. Hojo turned to Milane. "Is there anything I should know about the Ancient girl or is everything still normal?" Milane gave him an 'okay' sign with his fingers and quickly walked out of the room. The less time he spent with those two the better. Given the choice he would have rather not worked for the Shinra, but he had a wife and a child about the Cetra girl's age to support. Thinking about the girl again and knowing Hojo would be occupied for a while, he decided to see if she needed anything.  
"She's probably down here" Seph said as he led his makeshift gang through an open vent system. Since setting out, they started using whatever the least visible methods of travel possible. He was remarkably impressed with the young girl's patience and rigor. Much less so with the President's son.  
  
"Could'n we have found an other way?" Rufus whined moments before he stretched up and banged his head hard against the metal piping.   
  
"Are you okay?" Aeris asked him. Turning the best she could to see if he actually was alright and look to see if he had any wounds.  
  
"He'll live." Sephiroth said which was cue enough for the others to know that they needed to continue.   
  
"Thank you for asking." Rufus continued happy that anyone noticed him at all.  
  
"I really don't understand you, girl. If I was just part of some crazy experiment, I don't think I'd have any pity in me for anyone." Seph explained with a voice much harsher than his age would have suggested.  
Milane came to Aeris's cell room and inserted his keycard. The scanner showed that the room was already in use. He thought it odd, especially since to his knowledge, he and Hojo were the only ones with access to the lab. Still, it was his job so he went inside not knowing what to expect. Had she been there alone, she would have no doubt been staring out of the window at a world strange to her. If somebody had been in there with her, it would have been quite obvious. there wasn't enough room for her to hide, much less her and a full grown adult. Milane checked again, just to make sure. he checked in places that he knew she couldn't possibly be and then gripped in panic the frantically ran through all the rooms on the floor. Nothing.   
  
"Professor, we may have a problem." he announced over his PHS.  
"How long have we been in there" Rufus said trying his hardest to wipe the grime off his nice white jacket. When he realized that it wasn't going to happen, he took the jacket off and threw it into the vent system they had just emerged from.  
  
"Probably about an hour." Seph said casually. "nothing to it."  
  
"You do this all the time?" Aeris asked he pair of boys. Rufus gave her a 'I-can't-believe-you-asked-me-that look. Seph just nodded his head yes. "That was actually fun. I can't believe this. This entire day has been like a dream to me!"  
  
"Crawling through the ventilation system is like a dream?" Rufus clearly didn't understand what it meant for her to be free. It was a totally new experience for her. Free. She felt like she could do anything.   
  
INITIATING PRIORITY ONE LOCK DOWN a mechanical voice echoed through the hallways at an almost defeating tone.   
  
"What...what does that mean?" Aeris had only heard that mechanical voice before when it signals the start of surgical operations on herself or her mother and was obviously quite scarred of the sound. She gripped herself tightly trying her hardest to be brave.  
  
"Priority one is when all the high access doors and all exits go to full lockdown" Seph repeated the words that he had learned not fully understanding their significance.  
  
"so much for that." Rufus sat down like he was just waiting to be captured.   
  
"It's okay. I knew it wasn't going to last." Aeris said as she stared at the darkness. "Being free." she paused to sigh. "But it was nice for a little while."  
  
"Don't joke with me. I don't like it." Sephiroth jerked the boy up by the arm and glanced down the hallways. "I know where we can hide until this blows over. There's a room right by here that even my father doesn't like to go in. AND he's forbidden anyone else to go in there BUT him. No one should think to look for us there."  
  
"doesn't it bother you to be going in a room where even that creep is afraid of?" Rufus said "no offense" he added when he realized who he was actually talking to.  
  
"none taken. I know my father is a jerk. And it's not like any of us really do have anything to loose anyway. Is it?"  
  
Rufus thought of his neglectful father. There was no way he could care less about the boy.  
Aeris thought about the life she didn't have and how much she would risk for it.  
Sephiroth thought for perhaps the first time in his life, about doing good just to do something good.  
They rushed down the dark hall to a single door. It was thickly coated with locks, both combination and electronic. Seph worked his hardest to pick or break the locks with his knife until a simple numbered keypad were left behind. Seph took a brief breather and turned to his two new friends. Friends? Much like the Cetra, he couldn't remember ever having anyone even close to his own age to talk to. Granted he was still several years older than either of them but it was better than talking with his father or any of the endless parade of lab assistants that the mansion employed. "My father is big of numbering everything. When you understand that..." Seph pushed a series of numbered buttons on the door and the lock slid open. "..you understand everything about him." The rushed inside the door, favoring whatever was inside to capture and slammed the door shut behind them.  
  
Inside was a series of coffins. That alone totally baffled Seph. He had never know his father to keep bodies in this manner. Usually the dead were either preserved or disposed of. Never just sealed away to rot.   
  
"we'll be safe here." he tried to reassure his friends.  
  
"Will you now?" a mysterious voice said from seemingly nowhere. When he voice finished echoing around the room, a coffin lid threw open and a dark clad individual in a red cape raised himself to a standing position without either bending his knees or using his arms to brace himself.  
  
"Stay back" Sephiroth warned the man. He hadn't realized that he had pulled his knife out but he was holding it out of front of him now trying to get the tall stranger to back away from him. From all of them.  
  
Trust me, if I wanted you dead, there is nothing any of you could do to stop me." The man quickly drew a large gun from his hip and spun it by the trigger guard with sharp metal fingers. "Now what are you doing here? It's so rare that I get visitors. And while we're on the subject, who are you?"  
  
"Aeris" the Cetra said meekly hiding behind Sephiroth. "I'm a lab specy-mint of Hojo's."  
  
"Rufus Shinra. Son of the President Shinra."  
  
"Sephiroth. and you?" Sephiroth still didn't lower his weapon. "Tell me who you are."   
  
"I don't like being threatened, little man. But my name is Vincent. By any chance would you be Lucretia's son? You have her eyes." Vincent said looking at Sephiroth.  
  
"My mother's name was Jenova. She died when I was born." Sephiroth told the tale at his father had explained it to him.  
  
"Ah. I see." Vincent said as more of a sigh that an statement. "please sit down and let us end the hostilities." He spread his cape out and took a seat on the edge of the coffin he had just emerged from.  
  
"that's..that's big talk coming from a clawed giant with a gun.." Rufus couldn't believe what he had said to the man but he couldn't get comfortable with the man in here with him like that. Vincent Spun the gun around one more time before tossing it to Rufus. It was cold and much heavier than it looked.   
  
"Does this make you feel better" Vincent asked. And remarkable, it did make Rufus feel better. More powerful. "I only warn you this. Don't shoot unless you have to. There are things inside of me that you wouldn't care to see."  
  
"Is my father afraid of you?" seph asked. "is that why you are locked up in here?"  
  
"If your father is who I think he is, he has every reason to fear me. but for reasons you wouldn't quite understand. This..." he spread his arms as if to embrace the very room itself. "...is my punishment."  
  
"Mine too." Aeris finally got the nerve to speak, although her voice was still very quite.  
  
"And what have you done to be punished for?" Vincent gave her a very curious expression.   
  
"I don't know but..." her voice trailed away as she tried to some up her short lie's story to this scary stranger. "I must have done something. Why else would I be in here like this?"  
  
"She's an Ancient." Seph said.  
  
"That would be just like Hojo. He cannot resist having something unique all to himself for study."  
  
"What we're trying to do is....well...save her. Her and her mom." Rufus explained. Vincent picked up the young girl and set her on his lap.   
  
"Is this tr.." he stopped in mid sentence when he saw how she was trembling. "What's wrong little Aeris?"  
  
"You ....you scare me."  
  
"I don't mean to. Here hold on." Vincent sat her off his lap, from there he undid his weapons belts, cape and even removed his headband and brushed his hair away from his face.  
  
"And the claws?" she asked him. He clicked his fingers together.  
  
"I can't remove them. This is my arm. I used to have a real one, but It was removed and this was put in it's place. It's not a story I wish to tell little children." Vincent explained to them all, her in particular. "is this better?"   
  
"A little." she replied.  
  
"Then I'm afraid a little is all the comfort I can give you. Now do you three care to explain to me what's going on?"  
  
"We thought we could hide here." Rufus explained. He didn't seem near so afraid with the gun in his hand. Just knowing he now had the power to hurt people was enough for him. "Could you help us save her?"  
  
"You ask me to save someone else when I can't even save myself?' a smile came across Vincent's face. "I'm sorry, children. Every action has consequences."  
  
"Co-sa-what" Rufus asked.  
  
"Consequences. it means that whatever happens makes something else happen that you'll have to live with." Sephiroth explained to the other children feeling quite proud of himself. "does that mean you aren't going to help us?"   
  
"If I had helped you, you wouldn't be here right now....I'm sorry. that's not fair. Stories you haven't been told yet. The most I can tell you is this. Try. Whatever happens, try your hardest and never give up." Vincent's voice sounded echoey and far away as he spoke. "hmmm. It seems the alarm has died down now. perhaps you can make it on your own. And little Mr. Shinra,...... my gun please?" after Rufus reluctantly handed the gun back over, Vincent once again sealed himself away in his coffin and the trio cautiously left.  
Only to be stopped dead in their tracks by Milane.   
"Alright you three. You've caused quite a stir. Come along peacefully now." he had a small stun device in his hands but from the look on his face, he didn't want to use it. He had been treating Aeris and helping to take care of Sephiroth for the past several months now. They were almost like family to him. Certainly he saw the more than he saw his own boy.   
  
"How can you turn us in knowing what you do about what will happen?" Sephiroth asked the exact same question he had been asking himself. He wasn't ready for to answer but he felt he needed to say something to them. "Sometime you have to do things you don't want to do. It's all part of life."  
  
"I'm President Shinra's son. I order you to let us go." The voice started strong but with ever word Rufus spoke it grew weaker. They weren't getting out of this one.   
  
He almost couldn't stand the looks in their sad faces. "Come on. Let's take you all back. The Professor can decide what to do with you all" the words were meant more for himself than for the children. And out of the courtesy and kindness he had always shone then, the obliged. As the walked away, Milane could have sworn he heard someone from the sealed room laughing at him.  
  
Milane led the children to where Professor Hojo and President Shinra were waiting for them. With a stern gesture from Hojo. Milane left them their to whatever fate was decided for them.   
  
"Back to your cell now Cetra." Hojo said with a voice promising pain. "as for you Sephiroth, you know what to expect tonight." Aeris hung her head in sorrow unable to do anything but comply.  
  
President Shinra, who had obviously worked quite had to find hem as was evident from the sweat stains on his shirt, looked down at his son Rufus. He didn't even need to say what was going to happen to the boy. Absolutely nothing. Nothing ever was used to punish Rufus at all. Somehow in the young boy's eyes hat was worse than anything. But this time was going to be different.   
  
"I'm not letting you take her. She's my friend." He said stepping between the larger men and the small girl. "she needs to be free. Everybody needs to be free. This isn't right."   
  
"And what's a pathetic sniveling weakling like you going to do?" There was a pause but Rufus didn't answer his father. "you ungrateful little brat, get out of he way" His father scolded at him. Rufus didn't budge "I said get out of the way!" A huge back hand smashed against the boy sending is crashing into the ground. Hojo watched this all with a detached interest.  
  
"Back off him." Sephiroth said coldly drawing his hunting knife and walking towards the man. Hojo was prepared to step in as necessary but didn't feel things had gotten out of control just yet. But he was already thinking of what would happen to Sephiroth tonight.  
  
"And just what do you think you're going to do, punk? You going to hurt me. You do I'll have so many armed guards down here in a split second on you, the town will think we've declared war." There was a cold glare exchanged between the two. Neither of them willing to give in in the slightest. The stand off was broken by the voice of a little girl.  
  
"it's kay." Aeris tried her hardest to smile. "I really enjoyed today and I didn't mean to get you into any trouble or anything. I knew it wouldn't last but it was nice to dream. I'll go back."  
  
Sephiroth sheathed his blade without taking his eyes off the President. "one day old man...one day."  
  
President Shinra gave him a cold smile. "It's not like you really could have done anything. Get used to disappointments in life." He turned his attention back to Hojo. "You haven't sown me anything that impressed me tonight. I'm giving considerable thought to closing this facility down and cutting the losses."  
  
Unseen, Rufus stood to his feet and held his hand to his aching jaw. It felt wet. The pulled his hand pack to see blood covering a large portion of it. He had failed. He felt worthless. His father took him by the arm and they left. Shortly after Sephiroth took one last long look at the girl he had met today. He wanted to tell her goodbye but he didn't. Then it was just Hojo and Aeris left but not for long.  
  
"Milane." Hojo called for his assistant and in short time the man arrived. "You've caused me no end of grief today, and could easily have undone much work on two, no three of my most important projects. I'm not putting up with your incompetence anymore. Do you know what they means?" Milane did and nodded his head yes. "Then escort the Cetra back to her cell. There will be no dinner for her tonight."  
  
Even though he knew it would anger the scientist further, Milane cradled the young girl in his arms and took her back to her room. Gently he set her down on her bed in her normal place by the window. She gazed out it.  
  
"I was kind of hoping to see Bill one more time tonight." She said as she stared into the dark.  
  
"Yeah. So was I." Milane agreed. "do you think he can hear you when you talk to him?" He asked the child.  
  
Aeris looked confused. She had never given the matter thought of any kind. "I'd like to think he can." she finally said.  
  
"Then next time you see him, tell him I said goodbye." Aeris understood this even less but nothing more was said of the subject. "Aeris, I'm noting going to be able to come up here anymore to see you. I just want you to know that. please don't ask any questions." she didn't. Milane tucked her into her bed something he had never don before. then he kissed her forehead, something that most certainly no one besides her mother had ever done before. "I hope you do get away room here one day." he said as he left the room.  
Milane Strife perished in a lab accident when a large vat of mutangenic acid burst due to a miscalculation in the pressure system. If you choose to believe the reports. The Shinra life insurance polices were paid to his wife and son.   
  
Sephiroth was forbidden form ever seeing the Cetra again and fort months afterward, is father greatly increased is required exercises at a punishment.  
  
The Aeris's friend "Bill" would go on to join the Shinra army in hopes of making it into SOLDIER. During his time he would work with Sephiroth and they would all return to Niebelham in what should have been a routine investigation.   
  
But you already know that story….. 


End file.
